Teen Bakery Owner Wins High School Business Plan Challenge

High school junior Shea Gouldd loves to bake desserts for her friends and classmates. But when the costs of her expensive hobby started adding up, her parents encouraged her to start her own business.

In 2008, she did just that, and today Shea’s Bakery is now a full-service bakery and catering service with headquarters in Delray Beach.

Palm Beach Atlantic University Interim President William M.B. Fleming, Jr., left, and Rinker School of Business Interim Dean Dr. Leslie Turner, right, present a check to Spanish River High School junior Shea Gouldd for her winning business plan in the Rinker School of Business 2012 Entrepreneurship High School Challenge.

On Wednesday, Gouldd, 17, made a presentation about her business to a panel of experts at Palm Beach Atlantic University, and she was named the first-place winner in the inaugural PBA Rinker School of Business Entrepreneurship High School Challenge.

Gouldd’s entry was one of 34 business plan submissions from nine schools across central and southeast Florida.

The Spanish River High School student said she plans to invest the $1,000 prize in her business, which has begun expanding into the wedding cake market.

“We’re a family-oriented business,” Gouldd said. “We want to be the business they pick for every occasion every time.”

She said she also donates 10 percent of the profits to charity.

The second-place prize of $500 went to King’s Academy student Cecilia Breland, who has started an all-natural solid perfume company called It’s Just Common Scents. The fragrances come in both a twist-up tube and a tin and are aimed at women on the go, Breland told the judges.

Receiving the third-place prize of $250 were Kevin Harrigan, Hayden Rodrigue and Jake Kuck, who wrote a plan for a multi-store business called Prime Time Dry Cleaning. The three are students at The First Academy in Orlando.

Other finalists included The King’s Academy students Madison Collins, Danielle Hurme and Destiny Gombos, who wrote a plan for a consignment store called Single Digits; The First Academy students Kevin Lagos and Dominic Garrity, who came up with an idea for a video game business called ATK; and Zachary Alligood, Beau Cornelius and Taylor Mahone of Hale Academy in Ocala, who developed a plan for a music store called Buena Musica.

The other participating high schools were Boca Raton Christian School, Candlelight Christian Academy, Martin County High School, Royal Palm Beach High School and Sheridan Hills Christian School.